The Monroe County prison is starting to resume programs stopped by COVID-19 and will be open soon to visitors.

“We’re moving along here as everybody else is with COVID,” Warden Garry Haidle said. “We are following the protocol on masking and the county protocols. The masks are highly recommended but not required, but all our other protocols are continuing.”

The prison is still doing the 10-day quarantine when new inmates come in. That will continue.

He said they plan to open up some outside programs this week.

“My target date for visitation will be March 28. We will continue to monitor that. We have been restocked and remained stocked with supplies in the event of another pandemic surge or as in the field of correction or prepare for any infectious outbreak situation. We went through our inventory and we are very stocked,” he said.

On a positive note, the next thing Haidle wants to do is take a look at some of the projects that he had put on hold due to COVID.

“The recreation yard ramp, and then we’re going start, probably look into the spring to see where we’re at with those projects,” he said.

Commissioner John Moyer informed the board this was the last Zoom meeting for the prison board members and the April 6 meeting will be in person.

The Monroe County Prison Board continues to keep a watch on its prison capacity.

Haidle said the census for February was 387 and he has sent at least 36 inmates to other prisons.

Sometimes when the county prisons are at capacity, they will send prisoners to another county prison for holding. Then when it gets close to the offender’s court date the prisoner is a released back to the county where the original incarceration took place to wait their trial.

“So, in the month of April we will probably be able to begin our regular runs again. We were really able to work with the state and the sheriff’s department to get these three runs together and I think we can get our head count down for the ones that were waiting to go to the state,” he said.

Haidle also thanked the sheriff, saying he appreciated the help with the three runs